Comelec assures VCMs’ battery pack is fully charge

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has assured that the batteries of the Vote Counting Machines (VCMs) will be fully charged to ensure continuous conduct of the election even there will be brownouts.

Attorney Stephen Roy Cañete, second district election officer, issued the statement after the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco) had said they cannot guarantee zero-brownout on May 9.

Zamcelco Information Officer Ferdinand Rodriguez said even the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) cannot assure there will be zero brownout due to possible problems such as transmission constraint and availability of power in Mindanao they may confront with on May 9.

Cañete said that each of the VCMs has battery pack that can be used for duration of 14 hours.

Cañete said the battery pack of the VCMs will be checked to ensure it is fully charge during the testing and sealing of the machines, which is scheduled to be held on May 4 and 5.

“We will test the batteries during the testing and sealing. We will check if there are defects and will charge the batteries if and when it is drained,” Cañete said.

He said there are 305 VCMs intended for his district. The machines are stored in a warehouse of a cargo forwarder in this city.

Zamboanga City is experiencing at present one to two hours power curtailment daily since the average power allocation provided by power suppliers is 86 megawatts (MW) per hour versus a 97 MW hourly demand.

Currently, the entire Mindanao area has a power deficit of 215 MW with no available reserves.